‘Remember us, O Lord, in thy goodwill to thy people, visit us with thy salvation, that we may see the good of thy chosen, the joy of thy nation, that thou mayest be praised with thine inheritance. Give glory to the Lord for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.’Read more

GAUDETE: Rejoice! This Sunday, Advent takes an especially hopeful outlook, as we look forward to Christ’s fast approaching Nativity. In just a week’s time, we will behold him in the flesh as he was beheld by his mother, Mary, by Joseph, by the shepherds and by the angels, for the first time in Bethlehem two millennia ago. To mark this expectant joy of hers, the Church allows the use of rose liturgical vestments on Gaudete Sunday, rather than the penitential violet which dominates the rest of the Advent season. Read more

Gregorian chant is usually divided into eight modes. Each mode is considered suited to conveying something deeper than the words: to quote a Benedictine friend, ‘music is for when words are not enough. There is a mystical mode, an angelic mode, a sad mode, a perfect mode. It should then come as no surprise that the antiphon Gaudens Gaudebo for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is mode V. Joyful, bringing happiness to those in pain. The antiphon is a combination of Isaiah 61:10 and Psalm 30:1-2.Read more

One of the least heard parts of the liturgy is probably the chant of the Proper of the Mass. These are the parts of the Mass which change with the season or the feast and consist in the Collect, Prayer Over the Offerings, and the Post Communion Prayer, and also three scriptural texts; the Introit, Offertory and Communion. These texts are often replaced by hymns, but you may hear them said by the priest at the beginning of the Mass or, in the case of the Communion Antiphon, just before or after the faithful have received Holy Communion. However, you almost certainly won’t have heard them sung to the proper chants appointed by the Church for use in the liturgy. Read more

Many of you will be aware that the Dominican Order has its own tradition of chant, which means many of the popular Marian and other traditional Latin hymns, such as the Salve Regina, are sung differently to the Roman tradition. Read more